This invention relates to a radial arm milk hose support construction used for supporting the milk hoses of automatic milkers at the individual cow stalls of a cow barn. More particularly, the radial arm milk hose support construction of the present invention includes a downwardly projecting milk hose support arm connected to an overlying cow stall mounting rail through a unique, conveniently adjustable, ball and socket arrangement wherein the milk hose support arm may be conveniently adjusted to extend in virtually any downward direction from the mounting rail so as to retain and support the milk hoses in the most efficient position relative to the particular milking claw of an automatic cow milker.
Various forms of radial arm milk hose supports have heretofore been provided in conjunction with the milking claws of automatic milkers at the individual cow stalls. Generally, the purpose thereof is to support the milk hoses arranged between a particular milk claw operably attached to a cow's udder and the milk receiving pipe system as presently used in automated milk cow barns. It is important that these radial arms for supporting the milk hoses be relatively closely adjacent the particular milk cow and cow's udder in order that a proper tension will be retained on the milk hoses and transmitted directly to the milk claw in view of the fact that such tension directly affects the cow's production of milk by obtaining a more complete milk-out of the particular cow.
In other words, if the tension on the milk hoses directly adjacent the milk claw during the milking operation is improper, complete milking-out of the cow by the automatic milker is greatly inhibited. Each milk hose tensioning during the initial attachment of the milking claw to the particular cow's udder must be closely predicated and adjusted to such proper tensioning for an efficient operation of the particular milking claw and an overall complete milking operation. For this reason, the milk hose supporting radial arms adjacent each of the cow stalls must be individually closely adjusted for proper milk hose support at the start of each milking operation.
One of the more commonly used milk hose supporting radial arms previously used prior to the present invention has been one which requires two basic adjusting operations at spaced locations thereon in order to obtain proper milk hose tensioning and support thereby. All of the radial arm constructions provided for this purpose are supported on a generally horizontally extending cow stall mounting rail and this commonly used prior construction has been attached at the side of the cow stall mounting rail by a vertical pin or bolt providing horizontal pivoting of the downwardly extending hose support radial arm and spaced therebeneath, a second horizontally extending pivot pin or bolt providing generally vertical angular adjustment for the downwardly extending radial arm. Obviously, although theoretically a form of universal adjustment for the radial arm can be provided by this arrangement, the specific adjustment of a particular radial arm in order to obtain exact precise milk hose tensioning and support is quite a cumbersome adjustment operation. It can be seen that horizontal adjustments through the upper vertical bolt must be obtained, then vertical angular adjustments through the lower horizontal bolt must be obtained and this multiple adjustment bolt procedure possibly repeated numerous times until the exact desired milk hose tensioning and support is obtained, all resulting in quite a complex radial arm adjustment operation.